Write the Kb equilibrium expression for sodium 2-mercaptoethanol (H+ binds to S in sodium 2-mercaptoethanol)

I must warn you that I'm not an organic chemist but I think the Na salt is

HOCH3CH2S^-Na^+

HOCH2CH2S^- and that will react as a base in H2O solution to form
HOCH2CH2S^- + HOH ==> HOCH2CH2SH + OH^-.
So Kb for the HOCH2CH2S^- = (Kw for H2O/Ka for HOCH2CH2SH) =
(1E-14/2.3E-10) = 4.4E-5. That value for Ka is approximate. You can look it up on Google and get a slightly different answer probably.

The Kb expression of the above reaction with water is
(HOCH2CH2SH)(OH^-)/(HOCH2CH2S^-)

The Kb equilibrium expression can be written as follows:

Kb = [H+][HS-]/[H2S]

In the case of sodium 2-mercaptoethanol, where H+ binds to the S atom, the concentration of H2S is negligible compared to [HS-] and [H+]. Therefore, it can be assumed that [H2S] can be regarded as a constant.

Hence, the simplified Kb equilibrium expression for sodium 2-mercaptoethanol can be written as:

Kb = [HS-]/[H+]

Note: The specific values for the concentrations of [HS-] and [H+] need to be provided in order to calculate the actual value of Kb.

To write the Kb equilibrium expression for sodium 2-mercaptoethanol (H+ binds to S in sodium 2-mercaptoethanol), we first need to understand the chemical equation that represents the dissociation of sodium 2-mercaptoethanol in water.

The chemical equation for the dissociation of sodium 2-mercaptoethanol (NaHSCH2CH2OH) in water can be written as follows:

NaHSCH2CH2OH (aq) ⇌ Na+ (aq) + HS−CH2CH2OH (aq)

In this equation, NaHSCH2CH2OH is in equilibrium with Na+ and the conjugate base HS−CH2CH2OH. Now, let's write the Kb equilibrium expression for this dissociation reaction.

The general form of a Kb equilibrium expression is:

Kb = [Conjugate base] x [OH-] / [Parent acid]

In this case, NaHSCH2CH2OH acts as an acid and donates a proton (H+) to form the conjugate base HS−CH2CH2OH. Therefore, the Kb expression for NaHSCH2CH2OH can be written as:

Kb = [HS−CH2CH2OH] x [OH-] / [NaHSCH2CH2OH]

It is important to note that the concentration of water (H2O) does not appear in the Kb expression because it remains constant and is not included in the equilibrium expression. Additionally, the activity of water is assumed to be 1.

So, the Kb equilibrium expression for sodium 2-mercaptoethanol (H+ binds to S in sodium 2-mercaptoethanol) is:

Kb = [HS−CH2CH2OH] x [OH-] / [NaHSCH2CH2OH]